It really is a great representation of the rise and fall of a man. He went from his highest highs to his lowest lows and the just kept on chasing the buzz of his past victories. This is a slow burner though even for a boxing movie and I will admit, sports movies do bore me a bit but this one wasn’t so bad. It was really well acted and the cinematography was on point. The score was all right but nothing crazy. The pacing is slow but it does dig a bit deeper in the life of an abusive yet abused fighter, abused both physically, emotionally and mentally. My real drawback was how slow it could get especially when he is building his career in the beginning. I’ll probably watch again though.

It really is a great representation of the rise and fall of a man. He went from his highest highs to his lowest lows and the just kept on chasing the buzz of his past victories. This is a slow burner though even for a boxing movie and I will admit, sports movies do bore me a bit but this one wasn’t so bad. It was really well acted and the cinematography was on point. The score was all right but nothing crazy. The pacing is slow but it does dig a bit deeper in the life of an abusive yet abused fighter, abused both physically, emotionally and mentally. My real drawback was how slow it could get especially when he is building his career in the beginning. I’ll probably watch again though.

As my physical collection grows, I am attempting to use the opportunity to 1/ cross off some titles from big name directors, and 2/ push myself to watch older titles I would have otherwise not seen.

I picked up Raging Bull as part of the Criterion flash sale a few weeks back knowing it would help me achieve both goals. Now that I finally had a good chance to watch (and not fall asleep) and boy was it a ride.

To be honest I was kind of struggling with the balance of tracking the timeline, picking up on the little details of mob ties, and mix of story vs chaos in the ring. Regardless I could appreciate what Marty had put together in its entirety because it was controlled, chaotic, and outright beautiful. De Niro is also sensational. As I see more of his earlier work, I see why he really was considered so generational. Nowadays he really just plays himself over and over.

Where I struggled, Criterion helped fill the gaps. The entire film felt very focused on feeling like you are part of Jake’s experience. No hand holding at all. Just back and forth of all his personas. But I’m not sure I would’ve understood this or conceptualized it without the supplemental content Criterion provided.

I spent almost an extra hour and half after the movie ended just watching all the interviews, video essays, etc. Without this added context I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed or appreciated this work as much as I do now writing this the morning after.

Looking forward to more physical media watches and getting closer to seeing all of Scorsese’s work.

As my physical collection grows, I am attempting to use the opportunity to 1/ cross off some titles from big name directors, and 2/ push myself to watch older titles I would have otherwise not seen.

I picked up Raging Bull as part of the Criterion flash sale a few weeks back knowing it would help me achieve both goals. Now that I finally had a good chance to watch (and not fall asleep) and boy was it a ride.

To be honest I was kind of struggling with the balance of tracking the timeline, picking up on the little details of mob ties, and mix of story vs chaos in the ring. Regardless I could appreciate what Marty had put together in its entirety because it was controlled, chaotic, and outright beautiful. De Niro is also sensational. As I see more of his earlier work, I see why he really was considered so generational. Nowadays he really just plays himself over and over.

Where I struggled, Criterion helped fill the gaps. The entire film felt very focused on feeling like you are part of Jake’s experience. No hand holding at all. Just back and forth of all his personas. But I’m not sure I would’ve understood this or conceptualized it without the supplemental content Criterion provided.

I spent almost an extra hour and half after the movie ended just watching all the interviews, video essays, etc. Without this added context I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed or appreciated this work as much as I do now writing this the morning after.

Looking forward to more physical media watches and getting closer to seeing all of Scorsese’s work.

94/100

94/100

i really liked this film, specifically the artistic choice of black and white color and strings over a gritty boxing tale set mostly in the bronx. it made it feel almost like a soap opera in the first hour with chaos unfolding around the characters. a little detail, but interesting.

my favorite part was Jacks outlook on himself, his past, and the people around him. he never fully takes responsibility for his downfall, instead blaming it on his brother for poor managing and everyone around him. it was powerful to have jack recite 'on the waterfront' in a direct parallel to the story, in jacks eyes. jack thinks everyone else failed him instead of vice versa. the only time he acknowledges his weakness is in prison, and he doesn’t take it to heart because after he is released, he makes little to no change in his demeanor, although he thinks he has. he thinks he’s redeemed himself by thinking that everything isn’t his fault, when in reality, he ends by falling deeper into his ego and inconsiderate nature. i found this really interesting

i really liked this film, specifically the artistic choice of black and white color and strings over a gritty boxing tale set mostly in the bronx. it made it feel almost like a soap opera in the first hour with chaos unfolding around the characters. a little detail, but interesting.

my favorite part was Jacks outlook on himself, his past, and the people around him. he never fully takes responsibility for his downfall, instead blaming it on his brother for poor managing and everyone around him. it was powerful to have jack recite 'on the waterfront' in a direct parallel to the story, in jacks eyes. jack thinks everyone else failed him instead of vice versa. the only time he acknowledges his weakness is in prison, and he doesn’t take it to heart because after he is released, he makes little to no change in his demeanor, although he thinks he has. he thinks he’s redeemed himself by thinking that everything isn’t his fault, when in reality, he ends by falling deeper into his ego and inconsiderate nature. i found this really interesting

Бесконечное насилие и агрессия может и дадут тебе возможность побеждать и не падать, но они вечно будут тащить во мрак, однажды просто бросив тебя там.

Бесконечное насилие и агрессия может и дадут тебе возможность побеждать и не падать, но они вечно будут тащить во мрак, однажды просто бросив тебя там.